Breanna Stewart is returning to the New York Liberty, having agreed to terms on a one-year deal.

The news was first reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

The deal is below the league supermax, which allows the Liberty to keep its starting lineup — which reached the 2023 WNBA Finals — intact. Previously, the Liberty had placed the core tag on its star player, ensuring that they would hold exclusive negotiating rights to keep Stewart in New York.

The fact that Stewart signed under the cap and on a non-guaranteed deal means that the Liberty could also go out and get another veteran player on a protected deal should they choose to do so.

Stefanie Dolson, who was moved to more of a bench role last season, opted to return to the Washington Mystics in free agency. The Liberty, meanwhile, have looked to improve defensively through their bench.

“I think we can look at our bench and I think we can continue to augment there and improve if we can get longer … this year we were very big heavy on the bench,” general manager Jonathan Kolb said last October. “We might shift that. You can add another wing, you can make that a ball handler, what have you, but we have to improve our defensive presence off the bench. And that’ll give us more options in different series.”

Guards Kennedy Burke and Ivana Dojkic have signed with the team, while forward Leonie Fiebich was also signed to a training camp contract.

One big-name free agent remaining is Tiffany Hayes, who averaged 12.1 points per game last season for Connecticut.

It’s also unclear what the status of Marine Johannes is. While Johannes was a key member of the Liberty last season, she could opt out this season due to the league’s new prioritization rule.

Stewart’s decision to sign a low one-year deal versus deferring her salary in a higher two-year deal could indicate larger WNBPA decisions as well. The WNBPA has to decide whether to opt out of the current CBA by Nov. 1 of this year.

The Liberty star has been vocal about wanting to opt out of the current CBA, saying in the upcoming Tubi documentary that she wants to do so. The current CBA runs through 2028, should players choose to forego opting out.

A new CBA will likely mean higher salaries for players, which has led to many free agency stars opting for shorter deals this offseason.

The No. 1 Minnesota Lynx and No. 3 Las Vegas Aces have spots in the 2025 WNBA Playoffs on lock, but the league's top-tier teams still have plenty to play for as MVP frontrunners Napheesa Collier and A'ja Wilson gear up for their final regular-season clash.

Collier's 23.5 points per game this season is nearly identical to Wilson's 23.4 average, plus the Lynx standout ranks third in steals per game and fourth in block rate on the year.

Wilson, however, has the edge as the WNBA's blocks leader and the league's second-best rebounder on the season.

This is far from the first time the two titans have squared off in a WNBA awards race, with 2024 voters splitting honors by naming Collier the Defensive Player of the Year while Wilson earned a third MVP title.

History will be made should either emerge as the 2025 MVP, as Collier is still hunting her first title as the league's top player while a Wilson win would mint the Las Vegas star as the WNBA's first-ever four-time honoree.

MVP race aside, Collier's Lynx and Wilson's Aces have a lot on the line in their Thursday matchup, with Minnesota aiming to snap Las Vegas's 12-game winning streak — a stretch dating back to the Aces's 53-point blowout loss to the Lynx on August 2nd.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas will be looking to dish out some revenge and claim their first win of the season over Minnesota, all while continuing to fight their way up the WNBA table in order to snag the postseason's coveted No. 2 seed.

How to watch Minnesota Lynx vs. Las Vegas Aces in Thursday's WNBA lineup

Coming off an eight-day rest, No. 3 Las Vegas will host No. 1 Minnesota on Thursday.

The top-tier matchup will tip off live at 10 PM ET on Prime.

The Chicago Stars are moving out of Bridgeview, the NWSL club announced on Wednesday, signing a one-year deal to play at Northwestern University's Martin Stadium on the shore of Lake Michigan for the 2026 season.

Currently home to the Big Ten school's lacrosse and football teams, the open-air, turf-field stadium in Evanston accommodates 12,000 fans — a steep drop from the 20,000-seat capacity SeatGeek Stadium where the Stars have competed for the last 10 years, often struggling to fill the stands.

"What began as a temporary lakefront home for Northwestern football has quickly become a unique venue that has welcomed collegiate, professional, and international competition," said Northwestern director of athletics Mark Jackson in a club statement.

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The Stars have never had a full-time home inside Chicago's city limits, making their 2011 debut at Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois, before moving to Bridgeview ahead of the 2016 season.

Stars fans will have a sneak peek of what it's like to attend an NWSL game at the team's 2026 digs this Sunday, when a surging Chicago side will host the reigning champion Orlando Pride in a pre-announced match at Martin Stadium.

"This is just one step in a series of changes, including the recent hiring of renowned head coach Martin Sjögren,... [to] set the club on a new trajectory," noted Chicago Stars president Karen Leetzow.

Retired USWNT superstar Alex Morgan hit up Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast this week, talking motherhood, soccer stardom, and the fight for equal pay.

"Fast forward to 2019, and we were owning our s—t," she said, referencing the USWNT's long fight to achieve financial equity. "We're going to win, we filed an equal pay lawsuit against US Soccer, we know that winning [the World Cup] is going to help our case, and we are the best."

"We likely won't reap the benefits of what we're fighting for, but our kids will," Morgan recalled thinking. "I hope my daughter knows nothing other than equal."

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Morgan also opened up about life as a high-profile soccer celebrity, discussing how she juggled becoming a new mother while also navigating her playing career for both club and country.

"It was very difficult because there was no rules — there was no standard for moms in the NWSL, or even on the national team," she said. "I was trying to be a great mom, and I was trying to be a great soccer player, but I was also now having to write new rules and advocate for all moms in the future in soccer."

How to watch Alex Morgan on Call Her Daddy

Wednesday's Call Her Daddy episode featuring Morgan is currently available to download on all podcast platforms and can be watched on YouTube.

USWNT rising star Alyssa Thompson is officially on her way to London, with the NWSL's Angel City and WSL side Chelsea FC finalizing the 20-year-old's reported £1 million transfer ahead of the UK league's 2025/26 season kick-off on Friday.

The two clubs reached a verbal agreement with Thompson readying to ink a five-year contract on Thursday, just hours before the WSL's 6 PM ET transfer window closure — with six-time reigning league-winners Chelsea set to open their next WSL campaign against Manchester City in a mere 24 hours.

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Chelsea has been aggressive in the transfer market this year, as the WSL titan fields mounting pressure from clubs eager to upend the top of the table.

Second-place 2024/25 finishers Arsenal enter the season as UWCL champions, coming off Canadian star Olivia Smith's splashy £1 million transfer while also signing Smith's former Liverpool teammate Taylor Hinds.

Man City will also be looking to better their fourth-place 2024/25 run, hoping for a healthy Bunny Shaw to combine with Dutch phenom Vivianne Miedema while adding ex-Arsenal defender Laura Wienroither and decorated German midfielder Sydney Lohmann to their ranks.

This weekend's WSL action will also feature the newly promoted London City Lionesses, kicking off their top-flight entry against Arsenal on Saturday.

Backed by US-based multi-team owner Michele Kang, London City has also been busy this offseason, bringing on a laundry list of talent including midfielder Daniëlle van de Donk (OL Lyonnes) and forward Nikita Parris (Brighton) plus their own Angel City finds in midfielder Katie Zelem and defender Alanna Kennedy.

How to watch the Barclays WSL season kick-off this weekend

The 2025/26 WSL action kicks off with Chelsea hosting Manchester City at 2:30 PM ET on Friday, before league debutants London City visit Arsenal at 8:30 AM ET on Saturday.

Currently, WSL matches will likely stream live on YouTube, though an official US media partner has not yet been announced.